Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, the Countess of Swinton, is to stand for the Liberal Democrats in the forthcoming by-election for Masham and Fountains on North Yorkshire County Council.

The by-election will be held following last month’s death of the Conservative Margaret Atkinson, who had held the seat since 2013. Ms Atkinson was also chair of the county council and a councillor on Harrogate Borough Council.

The division is expected to be keenly contested. The Conservatives currently hold 47 of the 90 seats on the county council, giving them a slender majority of four. If they were to lose their majority would be reduced to two, meaning the loss of one more seat would see them relinquish overall control of the council.

Margaret Atkinson

When the Masham and Fountains seat was contested in May’s local elections, Ms Atkinson was elected with 1,076 votes. Ms Cunliffe-Lister, who stood as an Independent, was second with 738 votes. relegating the Liberal Democrat Judith Hooper to third with 620 votes.

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• Plan to convert Edwardian chapel near Masham into home approved

Ms Cunliffe-Lister told the Stray Ferret she had decided to stand at late notice last time, adding:

“I’ve had more time to consider it properly this time. My views align with the Liberal Democrats and they are the official opposition on the county council.”

She cited the cost of living crisis, the NHS, care homes and rural connectivity as key issues in the division.

The county council published a notice of vacancy for the division today. It said:

“A by-election to fill the vacancy will be held within 35 working days of a request for an election signed by two electors for the North Yorkshire County Council area being received.”

A fundraising campaign has been launched to buy 41 acres of land that used to be part of the Forest of Knaresborough and restore it to public use.

The privately-owned land, between Beryl Burton Cycle Way and Harrogate Road, is being put up for sale. It is not currently accessible to the public.

The community group Renaissance Knaresborough has begun a campaign to buy the land and replicate the successful Long Lands Common campaign, which raised £375,000 to buy 30 acres of land near Nidderdale Greenway and protect it from development.

Campaigners say the move would not only enable people to enjoy a nature-rich area of land that is currently out of bounds but also boost biodiversity by improving wildlife and providing educational opportunities. It would be called Knaresborough Forest Park.

Renaissance Knaresborough wants people to buy shares in the land, which would entitle shareholders to become members of the parkland project with voting rights — similar to Long Lands Common. It has already secured pledges worth more than £26,000, 

An appeal statement by Liz Baxandall and Bill Rigby, chair and treasurer respectively of Renaissance Knaresborough, said:  

“A piece of land is being prepared for sale. If it remains in private hands, as it is now, it will be a large tract of land within the town boundary to which we have no access.

“Our plan is to raise funds from our community to acquire it for the common good, manage it with care and let it be a haven for recreation, education and fun for
generations to come.

“Pledges are urgently needed so our community can purchase this farmland to create a beautiful tree-rich natural parkland; a protected haven for wildlife and people that we’d call Knaresborough Forest Park.”

Read more:

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• Long Lands Common organisers aim to create food forest on Harrogate green belt

The group is urging people to make pledges “urgently” in the hope of raising sufficient funds to buy the land while it remains on the market.

At this stage people are only being asked to to register an interest to buy community shares. Pledges are not legally binding and money will not be transferred until a later date.

The land, which connects with Mackintosh Park, off the Beryl Burton Cycle Way, once belonged to the Forest of Knaresborough, a hunting forest that covered 45 square miles.

The statement by Ms Baxandall and Mr Rigby said:  

“We have already lost so much green space locally. We are asking all from far and wide to pledge today as an individual or organisation to buy community shares to empower local people, so together we can protect more land.

“Shares will only go on sale once there is enough interest shown by individuals, businesses and community organisations.”

Further details are available here.

Motorists are set for another day of delays on the A61 Ripon Road in Killinghall today, with long queues already forming.

Traffic in both directions was horrendous yesterday due to traffic lights caused by workers digging up the grass verge near Ripley.

After some respite later in the day, another set of roadworks appeared in the middle of Killinghall at 8.30pm as workers began digging up the road despite the late hour.

Late night roadworks in the middle of the village.

Four-way lights were installed at the junction of Ripon Road and Otley Road.

This morning, queues are again in place, with Yorkshire Water due to carry out work on Ripon Road all week traffic lights back.

Read more:

• Rapidly growing Killinghall school praised by Ofsted
• Harrogate roadworks ‘paused’ until New Year

A village school near Harrogate has completed a £270,000 upgrade.

Hampsthwaite Church of England Primary School was built by public subscription in 1861 and now has 142 pupils and a nursery. It is part of the multi-academy Yorkshire Causeway Schools Trust, which includes St Aidan’s Church of England High School and a number of other Church of England and community schools in the district.

Since Amy Ross became headteacher in September 2019 the elegant stone building, which originally comprised a schoolroom with classroom, and master’s house, has been further extended and modernised.

It now has an early years foundation stage outdoor area, a perimeter fence, a main school entrance and school office, a link lobby which prevents classrooms being a thoroughfare that disrupted learning and a staff room.

The new staffroom and link lobby.

The £270,000 refurbishment was paid for by a combination of section 106 infrastructure funding from housing developers along with school and trust funds

Ms Ross said:

“We are delighted to have completed this next stage of our journey at Hampsthwaite which has further enhanced our facilities for the benefit of children, families and our passionate, dedicated and exceptionally talented staff team.”

“With fantastic support from Yorkshire Causeway Schools Trust we have been able to achieve such a huge amount in a short space of time, and all of this despite covid.

“Completing the build also highlighted what a wonderful school community we have. Parents donated furniture, including a sofa and coffee tables for the staffroom and Graham Sanderson Interiors (Harrogate) made us some beautiful new blinds for the main office and for the staff room, which will be treasured for decades to come. I feel privileged and proud to be a part of this community.”

Jo Stott, the school business manager, said:

“Following the addition of a further classroom in recent years, the school had been lacking in facilities to support this extra provision, in particular to ensure a suitable entrance into school and also in providing staff room facilities.

“The improvements made to school make a huge difference in the day-to-day operations and will without doubt help Hampsthwaite School continue to thrive.”

Asylum seekers from countries including Iran and Syria have been taking part in a conservation project in the Harrogate district.

The participants have no right to work in the UK while their asylum claims are assessed so they undertook volunteering at Nether Timble Farm, Swinsty to get exercise and regain a sense of purpose.

Those taking part are skilled workers, such as software programmers, digger drivers, electricians and farmers, in their own countries.

Abdul Aziz, Hysni Latif, Ali Reza, Imran and Salih from Syria, Iran, Turkey and Sudan took part in coppicing work at the farm with Josh and Rowan from Leeds Coppice Workers.

Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland rejuvenation that is both productive and good for nature. The group worked hard creating a number of coppice products, including stakes and weaving rods for hedge-laying and bean poles for the garden.

The scheme is part of Nidderdale AONB’s farming in protected landscapes funded project. It is the first of six outings planned to take place throughout the next year. Future visits will offer opportunities to take part in hedge-laying, dry-stone walling, as well as visits to working farms.

Matt Trevelyan, farming in protected landscapes officer at Nidderdale AONB, said:

“Being outdoors is proven to boost mental and physical well-being, and the group really appreciated the day out in the AONB, which despite being a rather grey day in November saw the sun peek out from behind the clouds — the landscape looked its moody best!”

Read more:

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• Nidderdale primary school still ‘good’ under new head, says Ofsted

Fireworks finale ends Knaresborough’s ‘busiest ever’ Christmas market

Knaresborough was packed at the weekend for what is being hailed as the town’s busiest ever Christmas market.

A total of 68 stalls crammed into Market Place to greet customers from all over the country and beyond.

The attractions also included a Christmas tree festival at St John’s Church and a fireworks finale, provided by local firm Ferrensby Fireworks.

Hazel Haas, who chairs the Christmas market committee, estimated up to 10,000 people attended on Saturday and up to 6,000 people turned out yesterday. She said:

“It was amazing. I’ve never seen it so busy. Many people said it was the busiest ever. In fact some traders sold out of their entire weekend stock on the Saturday.”

Ms Haas attributed the success to the quality of stalls, which she said had gradually improved over the years, and to the fact that the event still offered a cheap weekend for people in tough times.

The Christmas tree festival, the fireworks and the park and ride were all free so visitors could soak up the atmosphere and explore the town without having to spend any money.

So many coaches attended that extra space was required to accommodate them and King James’s School agreed to help at late notice.

The Christmas market is a joint initiative between the Rotary Club of Knaresborough, the Lions Club of Knaresborough and Knaresborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce.

“We were thrilled with the support for the market again this year, as well as our fantastic local businesses. We had worked really hard to promote all the town has to offer in the lead up to the event and feedback so far has been great, with one business even reporting they’d had their best ever day.

“People travelled from far and wide and at one point we even had a queue of coaches waiting to drop off market visitors. I spoke to one couple who had travelled from Leicester having seen the town featured in the recent film ‘A Very Yorkshire Christmas’ and another man who was visiting from the Netherlands. The town felt so wonderfully festive and even the showers on Sunday did nothing to deter visitors.”

A faulty storage heater caused a fire at a business in Pannal today.

A member of staff dialled 999 when they noticed smoke at the commercial premises on Station Road.

Firefighters from Harrogate and Knaresborough were summoned to the scene at 8.43am and entered the building wearing breathing apparatus.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log says they discovered a “small fire to a storage heater”, adding:

“Firecrews extinguished the heater, which had developed an electrical fault, and cleared the premises of smoke with a positive pressure ventilation fan.”

The fire, at the unnamed business, was the first of two incidents in the Harrogate district today.

At two minutes past midday, fire crews from Boroughbridge and Knaresborough were called to the A1 southbound near Boroughbridge to deal with a car fire.

A Vauxhall Zafira had caught fire following an engine fault. Firefighters using breathing apparatus dealt with the incident.

The incident log adds:

“Occupants had left scene, believed to have been picked up by another vehicle prior to arrival of emergency services.”

Read more:

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The reopening of Harrogate Hydro has been delayed until summer next year.

The swimming pool and leisure centre closed in April for an £11.8 million refurbishment.

At the time, the pool hall and changing rooms were due to re-open next month and the ‘dry side’ activity space was expected to welcome visitors in April.

The pool opening date was later pushed back until May. But in a post on its Facebook page this week the venue said it is now due to open in summer.

The facility will get a two-storey extension as well as a new entrance, cafe and reception area and sauna and steam suite.

There will also be new diving board equipment, a new fitness suite and the changing areas will be upgraded.

How the Hydro is looking.

The Hydro, which is run by Harrogate Borough Council-controlled leisure company Brimhams Active, said in its Facebook post that work was “well underway”. It added:

“As is often the case when refurbishing an existing building, we have discovered some additional areas of work that could only have come to light when the building was closed and a strip-out of the internal fabric had taken place.

“This includes some improvements to the fire protection of the steel frame, replacement of corroded steelwork, replacement of soffit boarding, and resolution of air leakage and heat loss between the roof and the external walls. As well as some work to ensure the building conforms to the latest legislation and is as energy-efficient as possible.

“Despite everything being done to minimise delays to the project, we now anticipate opening our doors once again next summer (date TBC). But by carrying out the work now, we will be able to ensure people across the Harrogate district can keep fit and active for many years to come.”

The Stray Ferret has asked the council if the “additional areas of work” will mean the cost of the project has risen. We have not received a response at the time of publication.

Read more:

• Pictures show progress of £28m Harrogate Hydro and Knaresborough Leisure Centre works
• Harrogate’s free Christmas lights extravaganza to be switched on today

One person commented in response on Facebook about the length of time Harrogate swimmers would have to travel to Ripon to use another council pool:

“This is going to be well over a year swimmers in the north of the town have been without a pool, and ‘summer (tbc)’ isn’t inspiring me with a lot of confidence.

“Driving to Ripon (actually quicker than trying to get through traffic to Starbeck or Knaresborough) isn’t a particularly appealing prospect on a foggy/icy winter morning, nor is it very green.”

Another person said the wait would be worth it.

“Ah well a least another seven months travelling through to Ripon. If it’s going to be as good as Ripon, really looking forward to it reopening.”

The council, which will be abolished in April, is also spending £17 million on a new leisure centre in Knaresborough, which will have a six-lane swimming pool, health spa and fitness studios.

It is being built behind the existing Knaresborough Pool which will be demolished.

Crime commissioner Zoë Metcalfe plans to relocate her office to Harrogate Police Station — triggering impartiality concerns.

Ms Metcalfe’s office said today the move could save £80,000 a year. But there are concerns working alongside police officers could compromise her duty to hold the chief constable to account on behalf of the public.

The Office of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner is currently based at Granby Road, Harrogate. According to its website it employs 32 staff.

The crime commissioner’s current office at Granby Road, Harrogate.

A spokesperson for the office said:

“We are considering how best to meet the Office of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner’s future office accommodation needs and our current, and most favoured option is co-location in Harrogate with the police and fire services.

“The commissioner recognises that the public expect police and fire buildings to be used efficiently, especially at a time of strain on public finances.

“No detailed plans have been finalised but we expect to save approximately £80,000 per year by changing our office arrangements. Like many progressive organisations, the Commissioner’s team has a strong commitment to flexible, agile working and our office accommodation needs have changed in recent years.”

A whistleblower, who alerted the Stray Ferret to the news, said:

“The PFCC and staff should be impartial and not mixing and befriending staff they may have to investigate.”

Read more:

• Crime commissioner Zoë Metcalfe resigns from Harrogate Borough Council
• Police plea to call out drink drivers amid increasing Harrogate district incidents

The commissioner’s spokesperson also said police could share space with firefighters at Harrogate Fire Station on Skipton Road:

“Proposals for neighbourhood policing teams to have access to spare office space at the fire station on Skipton Road have been under consideration separately, for a much longer period of time. 

“The commissioner, chief constable and chief fire officer have asked for a specialist estates recommendation which makes the most efficient and effective use of the police and fire station buildings in Harrogate for our teams. Once this report is completed, we will make further announcements.”

Harrogate Police Station is based at Beckwith Head Road.

The first skaters took to the ice and the giant Ferris wheel wheel began turning as Harrogate’s Christmas festivities got underway.

Fog lifted at noon just in time for people to get a great view of the festivities, including the 50 market stalls, ice rink and more from the top of the 32-metre Ferris wheel.

The Christmas Fayre is running with the Candy Cane Express road train from today until December 11 but many of the rides including the ice rink, ferris wheel and carousel will stay in the town centre until January 3.

Read our comprehensive guide to Harrogate’s Christmas fun here. Check out our gallery from this morning for a taste of the fun: